Joy Archives - Sermon Illustration Ideas

Hardwired

Creation, Design, Following God, Generosity, Giving, Happiness, Joy, Purpose

It is amazing how God has hardwired our brains and bodies to even function in ways that reward us following him. While it is…

Our Objective Reality

Attitude, Feelings, Gratitude, Joy, Knowing God, Knowledge, Praise, Reality, Thanksgiving, Trusting God, Worship

Our attitude of joy is a result of our thanksgiving to God. We should not base our attitude on our circumstances, because those always…

Pilgrim For A Day

Contentment, Gratitude, Joy, Perspective, Thankfulness, Thanks, Thanksgiving

A. J. Jacobs, a New York Times bestselling author, is known for his unconventional experiments. In the early 2000s, he spent 18 months learning…

Tension

Already And Not Yet, Grief, Hope, Joy, Perseverance, Perspective, Suffering, Tension, Trials

Living with joy and hope amid pain requires an ability to live in tension. We can’t just deny the pain and pretend like all…

Child’s Play

Child, Child-like, Child's Play, Children, Father, Humble Ourselves, Interruptions, Joy, Mother, Others

Children have the uncanny ability to express the most sincere and basic reactions to what we might perceive as an insincere and complicated world….

Anchored Joy

1 Peter 4:13, 2 Corinthians 12:10-11, Anchor, Devotion, Feelings, Fickle, Finite, Happiness, Hebrews 16:19, Isaiah 12:3, Job 5:17, Joy, Love, Stability, Truth

In a piece for The Gospel Coalition, Ryan Hoselton compares the artist Pharrell and Augustine’s views on happiness. “The truth is that viewing happiness…

Motivated By Love

1 Chronicles 16:29, Duty, God's Anger, God's Beauty, Isaiah 33:17, Joy, Love, Motivation, Obedience, Penalty, Practicality, Psalm 118:24, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 50:1-2, Striving

In answering a question about the motivation for obeying the Lord, Tim Keller said, “In the long run, you should always do the right…

Open Your Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:12, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Active, Blessing, Ephesians 4:11, Gifted, Joy, Minister, Opportunity, Romans 12:6-8, Self-Sacrifice, Spiritual Gifts, The Church, Willing

Every Christian is spiritually gifted in one area or another. In an article for Lifeway, Tom Blackaby describes how to use your spiritual gifts…

The Essence of God

2 Corinthians 9:7, Acts 20:35, Benefit, Cost, Giving, God's Essence, Imago Dei, Joy, Love, Luke 6:38, Matthew 6:1-34, Meeting Needs, Proverbs 11:24-25, Serving, The Giver

“The same writer of John 3:16 says in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” Which I take to mean at least this: giving what’s…

Homecoming

1 John 5:4, Forgiveness, Humility, Invitation, Jeremiah 29:11, John 10:10, Joy, Love, Matthew 6:33, Persistence, Pride, Prodigal, Psalm 51:12, Restoration, Welcome

In No Wonder They Call Him Savior, Max Lucado shares a story about a woman seeking her lost daughter: “Longing to leave her poor…

Equal Value

Brothers, Cerebral Palsy, Colossians 1:15, Colossians 3:10, Disability, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:27, Grace, Inclusion, James 3:9, Joy, Sacrifice, Universal, Value, Worth

Cayden, born with cerebral palsy, was unable to help himself. His parents said they were told he would be helpless, a “vegetable” his whole…

Faithful Marriage

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Commitment, Deuteronomy 23:21-23, Endurance, Faithful, Faithfulness, God's Glory, Hosea 2:20, Image of God, Joy, Love, Marriage, Pixar, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 12:9

In the opening scenes of the Pixar movie Up, Carl and Ellie’s marriage is summed up by just a few moments, with no one…

The Stockdale Paradox

2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Comfort, Confidence, Endurance, Isaiah 40:29-31, Joy, Perseverance, Psalm 119:50, Psalm 22:24, Psalm 23:4, Running The Race, Seeking Truth, Suffering, Trust

In this video (3 minute mark), Dr. Dennis Charney explains the “Stockdale Paradox,” a way of thinking that acknowledges the challenge being faced while…

Adversity

2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 4:20, Adversity, Comfort, Isaiah 43:2, James 1:12, Joy, Luke 9:23-25, Overcoming, Redemption, Suffering, Trial, Trusting God, Victory, Witness

“Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.” – Billy Graham The Lord is able to redeem difficult situations…

Power In The Blood

1 John 5:6, Colossians 4:2-6, Common Grace, Creation, Crucifixion, Freedom, God's Love, Hebrews 13:12, Intentionality, Joy, Power, Redemption, Romans 5:9, Romans 6:14, Wonder

“More recently, Horace Smith, a clinical hematologist as well as the pastor of Chicago’s Apostolic Faith Church and a former World Vision board member,…

An Act of Worship

1 Peter 3:15, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Acts 8:30-35, Colossians 4:4-6, Disobedience, Faith, Gospel, Grace, Joy, Mark 5:18-19, Praise, Sin, Wisdom, Witness, Worship

In May 2016, Chance the Rapper, a hip hop artist from Chicago, released the album Coloring Book. It contained a unique exploration of his…

The Privilege of Suffering

1 Peter 4:13, Endurance, Faith, Faithfulness, Joshua 1:9, Joy, Overcoming, Philippians 3:10, Psalm 27:1, Romans 8:17, Sacrifice, Submission, Suffering, Surrender, Trust

Helen Roseveare was an English missionary who served in the Congo, enduring imprisonment and torture during its civil war. Of that traumatic time, she…

We Have Jesus

1 John 5:4, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Contentment, Ephesians 3:16-17, Faith, Happiness, Joy, Loss, Pain, Presence, Romans 15:13, Romans 5:3-5, Suffering, Trials, Trusting God

“You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”- Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering When…

Joy